The late comedian Mitch Hedberg, best known for his off-kilter observational non-sequiturs, once said this about Americaās most successful big-box home-improvement store: āI went to The Home Depot, which was unnecessary. I need to go to the Apartment Depot. Which is just a big warehouse with a whole lot of people standing around saying, āWe donāt have to fix anything.āā
Iām not sure if Home Depot co-founderĀ Bernie Marcus has ever heard the joke, but heād probably find it apropos. Because, to hear him tell it, if he were going to found a company today, heād probably consider the Apartment Depot model.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Marcus, a longtime backer of Republicans and Republican causes, said he was āworried about Capitalismā and blamed a slew of influences ā including President Joe Biden and āthe woke peopleā for creating a society where no one actually wants to do labor.
āNobody works,ā the 93-year-old Marcus said in an article published Thursday.
āJust give it to me. Send me money. I donāt want to work ā Iām too lazy, Iām too fat, Iām too stupid,ā Marcus said about current American attitudes.
āNobody gives a damn.ā
Marcus, who co-founded The Home Depot chain in Atlanta in the 1970s, said the current atmosphere has him worried about the future of the system thatās made us rich enough to make us think we can get by on being lazy, fat and stupid.
āIām worried about Capitalism,ā Marcus said, per the Financial Times.
āCapitalism is the basis of Home Depot, (and) millions of people have earned this success and had success. Iām talking manufacturers, vendors and distributors and people that work for us (who have been) able to enrich themselves by the journey of Home Depot. Thatās the success. Thatās why Capitalism works.ā
As for whoās to blame, thereās a long list ā and pretty much every one of them deserves some of the blame.
The Financial Times reported: āThe list of potential obstacles to entrepreneurial success in the United States today is long, according to Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot: human resources executives, government bureaucrats, regulators, socialists, Harvard graduates, MBAs, Harvard MBAs, lawyers, accountants, Joe Biden, the media and āthe woke people.āā
If Marcus and fellow co-founder Arthur Blank decided to start Home Depot in 2022 instead of 1979, āWe would end up with 15, 16 stores. I donāt know that we could go further,ā Marcus said.
Thankfully, there are enough smart, enterprising DIYers and hard-working, blue-collar employees to keep the companyās 2,300 stores afloat.
How long that lasts is anyoneās guess.
However, Marcusā pessimism is warranted. Hedberg died in 2005, too early to witness generation Apartment Depot in full-flower.
Only 42 percent of millennials owned a home at age 30, according to Bloomberg, lower than previous generations. While two financial crises are part of the reason, keep in mind that millennials have put off other adult responsibilities until later in life, as well.
A 2020 Pew Research study found that only 44 percent of millennials between the ages of 23 and 38 were married ā a stark change from every previous generation, in which a majority of people were married at those ages. Only about 30 percent were married with a child ā again, lower than prior generations.
As a millennial myself, Iāve seen the attitude that causes this ā and the lack of resolve to change it. Instead, we hear platitudes about āquiet quittingā and āself-care.ā
If the trend continues, future Bernie Marcuses will only be able to rake in the cash by hoping our future skivers spend their universal basic income checks at Apartment Depot, where a bunch of people stand around, saying, āWe donāt have to fix anything.ā
Heck, serve some overpriced coffee, rename it āStarbucks,ā and youāve got a killer business model. For yourself, anyway. The rest of the country is thoroughly doomed if current trends persist.
If anything, Bernie Marcus is being too optimistic.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.